Beautifully Used (The Beaumont Brothers Book 2) (15 page)

Chapter 3
3

I watched Gabrielle finish th
e huge hamburger smothered in ketchup, some of which ended up at the corner of her mouth. “Here, let me.” I swiped the bit of red leftover from her mouth, then kissed it. I stopped kissing her, lingering at her lips for several seconds. She sighed.

“You’re still thinking about the phone call,” I said as I pulled her in close against me.

“It’s hard not to. I mean, even if this person isn’t Jeff or isn’t violent, which, by the way, doesn’t seem likely, it sucks knowing someone hates me so much that they felt the need to phone me and call me a slut. She shivered in my arms.

“I’m sorry. I know th
is doesn’t help, but I need you to know, you are safe here with me.”

She glanced up at me. “I know. Thank you. I don’t think I could have gotten through
these past weeks with what happened with Jeff without you. You’ve been a great friend.”

I’d thought about telling her we were more than just friends, but I wasn’t sure how she actually felt about me. Kissing is one thing. We needed more time exploring exactly what all the kissing meant and might become. Instead, I simply said, “Yep, that’s me. Friend to the end.”

She laughed. “It’s been a long day. It’s crazy how just sitting in a car for eight hours makes you tired.”

“I’ll take the sofa and you can have the bed
.”

She looked at the small sofa
and grimaced. Granted, it was only about five-feet long and my six-foot-two body would never get comfortable on that thing, but I was willing to give it a try.

“I’ll be fine,” I lied.

“I need to go brush my teeth.” She got up, grabbed something out of her suitcase and went into the bathroom
. I opened the closet to find an extra blanket and a couple more pillows. After I tossed the pillows and the blanket on the sofa, I went out onto the balcony to listen to the waves. There was only a sliver of a moon, and the stars filled the cloudless sky. I picked out Orion’s Belt, the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper. That was about all my astronomical knowledge allowed me to recognize. I turned as the sliding glass door from the room opened and Gabrielle walked out and stood next to me.

I glanced down at her as she stared out at the dark water. “It’s scary, Brodie.”

I put my arm around her and tugged her against me. “I know. I swear if I run into that creep, he will be nothing but mincemeat by the time I’m finished with him.”

“No. You can’t do that. You know he’d get back at you and you’d get hit with an assault charge. I don’t want that. Promise me you won’t.”

I sighed. “That’s a difficult promise, but how about I just say, I’ll try to keep my cool.”

“I suppose that’s all I can hope for.” She smiled. “I’m tired. I’m going to bed.”

“Okay. I’m just going to stay out here for a while longer. Good night.” I kissed her on the forehead wanting to kiss her on the mouth, but knew if I did, she wouldn’t be going to that bed alone.

After about fifteen more minutes of watching waves crash and counting how long it took between each one, exhaustion took hold and I went in. I laid down on the tiny sofa, my legs dangling over one end. I wasn’t the type to sleep on my back and tried to roll over on my side and scrunch my knees up so I would fit, only as I pulled my legs up, I slipped off and landed on the floor, grunting from the impact.

“Are you okay?” Gabrielle asked.

“Yeah. I thought you were asleep.”
I picked my sorry ass up and scooted back onto the sofa.

“No. I can’t sleep. I keep thinking about that phone call. It doesn’t look like you fit on that thing very well, Brodie. Why don’t I sleep there and you sleep here?”

I shook my head. “No. I’m okay here. Just takes a little … adjusting … that’s all,” I groaned as I tried turning again, only to have my legs hanging over so far that my feet were on the floor.

“Brodie. Come
up here. If you won’t switch with me then we’ll both sleep in the bed. There’s plenty of room. It’s a king size bed. You can have that entire side and I won’t even know you’re there. Please. Besides, I think I’d feel better if you were closer.”

I eyed the bed. It was rather huge. “Okay.” All I had on were my boxers. I hadn’t planned on sleeping so close to her and wondered if I should make
an effort to get up and put on a t-shirt, but I didn’t want it to look like I was doing that because of her either, so I decided to just go with my naked chest. I got up and quickly slipped under the covers. “You better not try anything …” She laughed. “Or I’ll have to tickle you to death.”

“Brodie.”

“Yes.”

“
Since we kissed this afternoon and some more this evening.”

“
Yes.”

“
Well, do you think you could hold me until I fall asleep?”

“Absolutely!” God,
I sounded like an eager beaver if I’d ever heard one. I might have trouble sleeping because of what I really wanted to be doing. Sleeping wasn’t on my body’s agenda, but I also knew I wanted to take things very slowly with Gabrielle. We had too much good history now to ruin things if I tried to move too fast. Besides, I still wasn’t sure exactly how she felt about me. But thinking about it, she was the one who initiated the kiss on the beach.

I inched closer to the middle
of the bed and she did the same. She had her back facing me, and I pulled her against me. She fit so perfectly, I draped my arm over her midsection and rested it there. About ten minutes later, she was breathing a bit heavier and I guessed she was finally asleep. I had to remind myself that a couple of kisses on the beach and back here in the room didn’t constitute a relationship, but I had a great feeling. I closed my eyes, reveling in the great fortune that the fates had bestowed upon me. Yes, at that moment, I’d become a believer in relationships once again.

Chapter 34

Sun kissed the lids of my eyes and I opened them to the view through the sliding glass doors leading to the balcony.
All I could see was blue sky with a few clouds gathered to the right. We were lucky it wasn’t heavily overcast, and I was so glad Brodie hadn’t closed the curtains before he came to bed so we’d have this beautiful view to wake up to. Hmmm… he had come to bed with me. I felt like purring like a happy little kitten. His arm was still hung over my waist and I wanted to snuggle into him. Instead, my body went into rigid mode not wanting to disturb him. I wanted to turn around and look at him, so I slowly turned to find his eyes closed and his lips curved into a smile. “You’re awake,” I accused, snuggling my arms between our chests with my hands under my chin and scooting closer to him. As our knees knocked gently together, he straightened his long ones a bit so I would fit.

“Just woke up.”
He slowly rubbed his hand up and down my arm a few times. “How did you sleep?”

“Okay. What t
ime are we practicing today?”

“I think Jackson said eleven.”

“Good. I think I’d like to go for a walk on the beach.”

“Breakfast first.”

“Really? I’m not very hungry yet.”

“At least coffee.”

“Yes. Coffee I can go for.”

Brodie threw the covers off of himself and sat up. I couldn’t keep my eyes from his naked back, but when he stood, my eyes
automatically traveled down to his rear end and below that, his thighs. They were the best looking thighs I’d ever seen, usually hidden under his long shorts or pants, but with only the tight boxer briefs stopping right at the point where the back of his leg muscle indented right before his buttocks, the view was spectacular. He turned to glance at me as he headed to the bathroom. “I’ll let you get dressed in private … unless you need to get in here first?” he said as a question. I could only shake my head since my vocal cords had been struck temporarily speechless by the gorgeousness of him.

After he shut the door, I
pulled on my purple jog shorts and purple flowered sports bra that matched. My body screamed for some running-on-the-beach time, and I figured if I actually put the workout clothes on, it might really happen.

Brodie
came out of the bathroom and grabbed his cargo shorts, stepping into them he tugged up the zipper and buttoned them. He snatched a black t-shirt from his bag and pulled it over his head. The shirt had a guitar on it and underneath the guitar it said, “Live To Play.”

Brodie spent the next ten minutes reassuring me that there was no way Jeff could have followed us down to Malibu. Before we headed downstairs, he called Doc and then Derrick to see what they could find out
about Jeff still being in town. Once inside the little café downstairs at the hotel, I let Brodie talk me into some pancakes with the coffee, conceding that walking after eating pancakes made more sense than before.

Just as I took the last bite of the
syrup smothered glob on my fork, Lena and Jackson strolled in holding hands, looking every bit the newlyweds. They made the perfect couple. I was glad Lena’d colored her hair back to the dark auburn I’d known her to have. She had very pale skin, and the red complimented her skin tone more, producing a radiant glow instead of making her look like a pale person lacking some vitamin D.

After she and Jackson filled their plates from the buffet
, she plopped down next to me. Jackson and Brodie were already talking about what we, the band, needed to accomplish today in order to be ready for tonight. Lena leaned her head close to mine and whispered, “How did it go last night?”

I smiled
, thinking of the kisses on the beach and later in the room, Brodie holding me all night long, then stopped and gave her a restrained glance. I knew I could tell Lena anything, but was I ready to confess my feelings for Brodie? “It went fine.” I settled for a simple, non-committal answer.

“Good.” She took a sip of her coffee.
“I’m glad. I … we were worried a little.”

“No need to worry. Brodie and I are friends. We live in the same house for crying out loud. I think we can handle sleeping in the same room.”

“Yeah. Sure.” She buttered her toast and took a bite. After she swallowed it, she leaned close to my ear again and whispered, “What about when you were walking on the beach?”

“What?” I stared at her, knowing full well that an incredulous expression must be plastered all over my face.

“You know what I’m talking about.”

“Um … no. I think you
’d better tell me,” I said, feeling my cheeks warm with redness.

“You and Brodie.”

“What about us?”

“Kissing!” she whispered.

I turned to stare at her, unable to figure out how she knew about the kissing.

She shrugged. “We saw you,” she said in a matter of fact way.

“You saw us?”

“Jackson and I were walking on the beach too. We stopped when we got close enough to realize it was you and Brodie laying on the wet sand tangled in each other’s arms, faces smashed together like …”

“Shhhh,” I demanded. Lena giggled.

Resting my elbow on the table, I placed my forehead in my hand
, unable to look up at her. I peeked a glance through my fingers at Brodie and sighed with relief to see he was still talking with Jackson and not paying any attention to what Lena and I were discussing. 

“I think it’s awesome, by the way,” she added still keeping her voice down.

I took in a deep breath. “I’ve liked him for a while now. Probably even since last year.”

“I know.”

I stared at her again, unable to believe what I was hearing. “Take a jog with me?”

“Sure.”
Lena gulped the rest of her coffee and stood. “Jackson, Gabby and I are going for a jog on the beach. Be back in about half an hour.”

“Wait. I’ll come too,” Brodie stood.

Jackson frowned at his brother.

“I don’t think they should go alone.”

“There are two of us,” I said.

“I’d just feel better if I tagged along.”

When neither Lena nor I said anything, his eyes caught mine. “Humor me.”

“
I’ll come too,” Jackson said while standing to leave with us.

“Okay,” Le
na smiled, and I figured I might as well agree too.

I knew why Brodie wanted to come. I hated that he felt like I needed a babysitter. I never should have told him about that stupid phone call.

Chapter 35

Jackson and I ran ahead of the women.
Their strides were half ours, and I took the hint that Jackson wanted to talk as he sped ahead first and gestured for me to follow. He slapped me on the shoulder when I caught up. “So, you and Gabrielle.”

“Me and Gabrielle, what?”

“You know.”

“No clue.”

“Lena and I took a walk on the beach yesterday around sunset.”

“Oh.”

My jogging became a little slowed and I tried to relax my shoulders. I glanced behind us to see Gabrielle and Lena jogging so slowly they were almost walking … as they talked. I guessed Gabrielle was having a similar conversation with Lena that I was having with Jackson.

“How long?”

I gave him a reserved glance. “Since yesterday. And before you start to lecture me, let me tell you that I’ve stopped sleeping around. In fact, I haven’t been with a woman since before you and Lena tied the knot.”

“Wow,” was all he said.

We ran in silence for a few seconds until I couldn’t stand it. “She’s different.”

“Uh huh.”

“She is!”

“I know. I said, ‘uh huh.’”

“Yeah, but there was something in that ‘uh huh.’”

“Nothing in my ‘uh huh,’ bro, ‘
cept a couple of u’s and h’s.”

“Well, keep
‘em to yourself.”

“Sure.” He glanced behind us. “I can do that, but not sure I’ll need to.”

I followed his glance with my own. Lena waved, smiling profusely, and I knew she and Gabrielle were discussing the kissing. Not a big deal, I told myself.

“I like her.”

“Glad to hear it. I don’t need to tell you how bad I’ve felt about the Beth situation, and I’ve always understood why you did the things you did. I probably would have been the same way. It’s hard to trust someone once that’s been damaged.”

“Yeah, well, I’m over it. Well, over the shock of it. I don’t know if
you ever get over something like that.”

“No. I don’t think so.” My brother had never chastised me for the way I treated women after th
e fiasco with Beth. My mom had left me alone, as well. I supposed I should be grateful for having such an understanding family. I sometimes wonder what my dad would have had to say about the way I’d acted.

“
Gabrielle got a phone call last night from that creep Jeff.”

“She did?
”

“Yeah.
At least we think it was him. He called her a slut and told her he was watching her.”

“Watching her? How?”

“Don’t know. I don’t think he really is. I think him calling yesterday and saying she was a slut after we’d been kissing on the beach is nothing more than coincidence. I think he’s just trying to harass her.”

“Slime-bag has nothing better to do.”

“I called Doc this morning and asked him to check to see if the jerk was still around up there, just to ease Gabrielle’s mind. I haven’t heard back yet.”

“Did you call Derrick?”

“Yeah. He said he hadn’t seen him, but it’s only been a day. He told me he’d give me a call if the asswipe showed up in the bar.”

“Did he mention how Rufus was?”

“Yeah, and I asked too. He said he was moping around like he’d lost his best friend.”

“Ha. Well, what else is new? Rufus is always like that.”

“That he is.”

After the run on the beach
, I felt a little of the stress I’d been harboring flow from my shoulders. Holding Gabrielle throughout the night was the most wonderful thing in the world, but
sleeping
was not easy to do with her luscious body so close to mine. I’d lain awake most of the night, my arm draped around her midsection, dreaming about what her skin felt like underneath the thin cotton tank top she wore.

Practice with the band went fairl
y smooth considering the nervous anxiety we all felt. We all knew what this gig meant. If they liked us, we’d get more chances to perform down here. Playing in a small town where we lived didn’t get much exposure. We were lucky that event planner, Piper Smith, had ventured into our bar that night a few weeks ago when we’d just happened to have the best night in a long time. Excitement was in the air, as we were all hoping to meet the infamous Gerard Butler.

Nerves rattled, but we all managed to hold it together when he greeted us at the door. He even helped us set up.
Nobody, not even Lena had any trouble singing with him, and it was amazing how relaxed he made us all feel. He sang a few songs with us, then excused himself and re-joined his party.

The next day, I received a call from Doc. He
told me that he’d run into Jeff at CVS that morning. The guy’d had a black eye and seemed to go out of his way to avoid letting Doc notice him. Every time Doc strolled down an aisle Jeff was in, Jeff would nonchalantly turn as though he didn’t see him and leave the aisle. He finally caught up with him at the register. He asked him what had happened to his eye, but Jeff waved it off with a laugh and told him he’d been wrestling with his dog and the big lug’s head caught him in the eye. Doc admitted it was a good and believable story considering the dog was right outside the store’s sliding doors waiting for him. A big dog too, maybe a Great Dane, Doc had only been guessing on the breed since he didn’t know much about dogs. Knowing Jeff was still up in Turtle Lake gave Gabrielle a little reprieve. I had to wonder why Jeff had even bothered to call and harass her in the first place. Was he still pissed off that she’d fought him and tried to get him convicted for assault and attempted rape? She’d had every right, but she hadn’t gotten full satisfaction of having him put in jail thanks to the little filly that’d lied for him.